A good thought provoking history

The one thing I dislike about this excellent history is that it equates Arab with Muslim. This is a great read for a history of Islam and the Islamic peoples and powers. But, while it makes regular mention of non-muslims, and overviews how the groups related, the history begins with the birth of Islam. Nessisarily, a huge part of the political and cultural makeup of the region is excluded to allow a detailed discussion of Islamic history. I missed this information at several points though.

I began this book because I felt I lacked a great deal of knowledge regarding the cultural history that makes this area so important in political life today. As a lay person, it was at some points overly detailed for my needs, but it remained interesting and thought provoking.

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1 person found this helpful

Arab History

Whilst I enjoyed this book I have a few issues on it's focus. 40% of this book focused on history after 1900 ie WW1 and WW2 as well as the history of the cold war in the Middle East. I had hoped more on the rise and spread of Islam as well as the Sunni and Shia schism and the spread of the various sects eg Wahabis and others. There was also very little on the Crusaders or how important this area was in the Middle Ages where Baghdad was practically the centre of the world and a high point of enlightenment at the time.

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1 person found this helpful

A good read

A detailed review of Arab history, culture and politics. I found the book enlightining. However I also found it dry and hard to follow (to keep engaged), particularly in in the middle chapters. I would have liked more critical analyses of the historic events. Still a good book though.

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Disappointing

a bit stiff for me - little colour or added value analysis - juts a linear history read in a dour tone with author careful not to challenge any sensitivities

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1 person found this helpful

Language, please!

Nadia May was a bad choice. The book which a popular one (and the topic most interesting) was made boring and even somewhat confusing. The narrator should have had a better grasp of Arabic, at the least, as there is no shortage of Arab speakers with native English language proficiency!!

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5 people found this helpful

hourani's masterpiece

Great book, sympathetically read.

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3 people found this helpful

A History that should have been abridged!

This is one of the dullest most turgid works of history that I have yet come across. How many times the reader, Nadia May, must have fallen asleep I don?t know!

The author has taken out too large a canvass for his work; he lacks the judgement to distinguish the detail that may be of interest a lay audience or perhaps the nature of this work did not lend itself to any audience but an academic one?

Not for the general reader.

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12 people found this helpful

Comprehensive, easy-to understand

This text really did cover all possible bases. I was particularly impressed with how it managed to convey a picture of life for ALL kinds of Arab peoples. In terms of the recording, the text probably doesn't translate that well to audio, which is why some negative reviews seem to have emerged. I thought, however, that the reader did a perfect job of animating complex language in a very listenable way.

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More like a university thesis

We listen to a lot of history books but we have really struggled with this one. It is read more like a list of events than a flowing story, there's little dialogue to link the facts together. The little that there is presumes pre knowledge, using lots of throw away comments about things I've simply never heard of. Therefore the amount of information, coupled with lack of knowledge means it's just too hard going. My head explodes after 5 mins. The narration is also heavy and forceful. I've fought with the book several times and each time lost - I just can't get into it. Real pity as I was looking forward to it.

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